Piano Concerto No. 23 in A major by Mozart reviewed by Lucy Parham Building a Library 8th June 2024

This is one of Mozart’s most lyrical and poignant works, especially in the central slow movement. Mozart created the prototype of the piano concerto as we know it with the concertos he wrote for Vienna in the 1780s. He wrote it in 1786, the year of his great opera, The Marriage of Figaro. It is the most chamber-musical of Mozart’s mature piano concertos. The slow movement written in siciliano style reaches operatic depths of heartbreak. But all that dissolves in a finale of rollicking high spirits.
Recommended version
Murray Perahia (piano/director)
English Chamber Orchestra
Sony Classical 88697757852